The invention herein relates to a beam formed of an assembly of two wood chords interconnected by sheet metal struts in a truss-like construction, for use in place of a solid wood beam. In building constructions, particularly dwelling houses and small buildings, it is common to use large wood beams as joists or supports for floors and ceilings or flat roofs. Typically, these beams are made of solid wood whose nominal cross-sectional dimensions are on the order of 2.times.6 inches, or 4.times.6, or 4.times.8, 4.times.10 inches, etc. Essentially, the beam is rectangular in cross-section and is arranged with the height dimension being greater than the width dimension.
In recent years, the heavy demand for large wood beams, of the character described, has resulted in a shortage with accompanying increased prices. Hence, not only are available beam materials considerably more expensive than in the past, with the price continuing to escalate as the demand increases, but also the quality of available beams has been decreasing.
In the past, truss constructions, utilizing parallel chords and interconnecting webs or struts, have been used in building construction for roof support. An example of this sort of construction is illustrated in my earlier issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,116, granted Jan. 11, 1977 for an "Apparatus for Forming Trusses" and in my application Ser. No. 727,906 filed Sept. 30, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,352. However, a truss-type construction has not been utilized in the past in sizes and shapes useful as replacements for conventionally used beams. Prior trusses particularly have been too high, i.e., in vertical cross-sectional dimension, because of design strength requirements, to be utilized as a replacement for ordinary wood beams used as joists. Thus, the invention is concerned with a beam assembly construction which is sufficiently low cost to compete with solid wood beams and yet provide greater strength and dimensional stability, as well as other advantages.